Signature

sig′na-tūr, n. a sign or mark: the name of a person written by himself: ( mus. ) the flats and sharps after the clef to show the key: a sheet after being folded, the figure or letter at the foot of the page indicating such.— adj. Sig′nāte , designate: bearing spots resembling letters.— ns. Signā′tion , anything used as a sign, an emblem; Sig′natory , Sig′natary , Sig′nitary , one bound by signature to some agreement.— adj. having signed, bound by signature.— Doctrine of signatures , an inveterate belief in early medicine that plants and minerals bore certain symbolical marks which indicated the diseases for which nature had intended them as special remedies. [Fr.,—Low L. sig natura —L. signāre , -ātum , to sign.]